oppy
Full Member
- Posts
- 4,019
- Likes
- 7,210
She was at Wylex too just down the road
Armistice day Saturday 11th November 2023
- Thread starter zzr1400tim
- Start date
izwozral
Full Member
- Posts
- 17,158
- Likes
- 39,014
Mine too!! I remember the brown bakelite plugs and sockets well.
zzr1400tim
Full Member
- Posts
- 3,634
- Likes
- 7,192
Had a really weird dream last night. My late father was asking why I hadn't put his Dads photo on the forum too 
So here we go..
The first photo is my paternal grandfather William (taken sometime in the fifties). He served in both WW1 & WW2. He joined the Coldstream guards right at the end of WW1.
When WW2 broke out he tried to re-enlist but at 38 he was too old. So he tried to join the Navy but again was refused as was too old. So he died his hair black, lied about his age and joined the RAF as ground crew (an artificer) in a Hurricane squadron and went to France as part of the BEF. He was evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in 1940. He spent the rest of the war manning a barrage balloon in Cheltenham and drinking the pubs dry. He was a bit of a "rogue" and liked the drink and the ladies. I don't have any photos of him in uniform as I believe my embittered gran burnt them all he had buggered off. He was known in the family as "Wicked Will". I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I met the bugger.
The second photo is my dad.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1944 and served on the fleet air arm aircraft carrier HMS Glory as a stoker mechanic. He saw action in the Pacific until the Japanese surrender. He was a decent man and never drank. However, he was bit of an authoritarian and when I was young I was forbidden to have any toy guns. His ship was responsible for bringing back many POWs (human skeletons as he described) I think that these experiences affected him deeply until his death in 1985 aged just 57. He, like myself, loved motorbikes. When I bought a Honda he asked who made it. I explained that it was a Japanese bike. He went berserk
The third photo is my Uncle Ted (my dads older brother)
He also joined the Navy and served on HMS Venerable. Ted was a lovely easy going kind chap who saw the good and the gold in everyone. He only passed away last year at the age of 95
So I have done my bit .. story told .. warts & all
So here we go..
The first photo is my paternal grandfather William (taken sometime in the fifties). He served in both WW1 & WW2. He joined the Coldstream guards right at the end of WW1.
When WW2 broke out he tried to re-enlist but at 38 he was too old. So he tried to join the Navy but again was refused as was too old. So he died his hair black, lied about his age and joined the RAF as ground crew (an artificer) in a Hurricane squadron and went to France as part of the BEF. He was evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in 1940. He spent the rest of the war manning a barrage balloon in Cheltenham and drinking the pubs dry. He was a bit of a "rogue" and liked the drink and the ladies. I don't have any photos of him in uniform as I believe my embittered gran burnt them all he had buggered off. He was known in the family as "Wicked Will". I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I met the bugger.
The second photo is my dad.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1944 and served on the fleet air arm aircraft carrier HMS Glory as a stoker mechanic. He saw action in the Pacific until the Japanese surrender. He was a decent man and never drank. However, he was bit of an authoritarian and when I was young I was forbidden to have any toy guns. His ship was responsible for bringing back many POWs (human skeletons as he described) I think that these experiences affected him deeply until his death in 1985 aged just 57. He, like myself, loved motorbikes. When I bought a Honda he asked who made it. I explained that it was a Japanese bike. He went berserk
The third photo is my Uncle Ted (my dads older brother)
He also joined the Navy and served on HMS Venerable. Ted was a lovely easy going kind chap who saw the good and the gold in everyone. He only passed away last year at the age of 95
So I have done my bit .. story told .. warts & all
Attachments
oppy
Full Member
- Posts
- 4,019
- Likes
- 7,210
Hells teeth, we're not bloomin' well related are we
Pudsey Bear
Full Member
- Posts
- 15,542
- Likes
- 21,941
I do not have any family pictures, just this one of my brother Tony in Hong Kong I think, he went there with the army.
zzr1400tim
Full Member
- Posts
- 3,634
- Likes
- 7,192
pardon my ignorance Trev. But why is this a big surprise?
izwozral
Full Member
- Posts
- 17,158
- Likes
- 39,014
Daddy!!!Hells teeth, we're not bloomin' well related are we
izwozral
Full Member
- Posts
- 17,158
- Likes
- 39,014
Trev is the one in glasses, second from the back!
st3v3
Full Member
- Posts
- 6,955
- Likes
- 11,516
I've still got some of that on my "old £$%^ I took out of someone's hooose shelf"
colinm
Full Member
- Posts
- 5,113
- Likes
- 5,999
I'm gunna guess that's because Sinn Fein Lord Mayor was there.
colinm
Full Member
- Posts
- 5,113
- Likes
- 5,999
That looks like a Hawker Demon/Audax or similar.
Scotia
Full Member
- Posts
- 6,255
- Likes
- 22,767
Not sure what plane he was standing alongside but he flew a bomer. They were shot down and crash landed in Denmark. The crew were then lined up alongside the plane and shot, this was witnessed by locals in the village and relayed to his brothers when visiting his grave in Aabenraa.
Pudsey Bear
Full Member
- Posts
- 15,542
- Likes
- 21,941
This just popped up on my news notifications.
www.flyingmag.com
Downed WWII Lancaster Bomber Raised from Sea Floor - FLYING Magazine
The remains of a downed Avro Lancaster ED603, as well as crew on board it, have been recovered from the sea floor of Lake IJsselmeer.
www.flyingmag.com
colinm
Full Member
- Posts
- 5,113
- Likes
- 5,999
Definatly a Hawker of that vintage, they where still flown around wwII, link below shows a good photo of the single seat Fury, and you can see it has a lot of common features, if you research the other types you might see photos with no rad, this is because it retracts into fuselage.
On Silvered Wings: Flying the sole surviving Hawker Fury
A modern-day looking glass into the history of the interwar RAF.
vintageaviationecho.com
trevskoda
Full Member
- Posts
- 40,437
- Likes
- 57,180
They were started by a truck with a frame on the back with a engine connection shaft to engage to the prop, called a hucks starter.Definatly a Hawker of that vintage, they where still flown around wwII, link below shows a good photo of the single seat Fury, and you can see it has a lot of common features, if you research the other types you might see photos with no rad, this is because it retracts into fuselage.
On Silvered Wings: Flying the sole surviving Hawker Fury
A modern-day looking glass into the history of the interwar RAF.
colinm
Full Member
- Posts
- 5,113
- Likes
- 5,999
There where two ways of starting them, with a Hucks like that one at Shutleworth, can't get this video off our website to work, maybe you can. http://www.skysportengineering.co.uk/hucks_video.html
The other way is starter handles which go in the hole you see above carb air intake.